Mullen Puts Limit on U.S. Military Role in Yemen - WSJ.com

Mullen Puts Limit on U.S. Military Role in Yemen - WSJ.com: "Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, appeared to rule out direct U.S. military action in Yemen, the home of the al Qaeda affiliate that has claimed responsibility for the alleged attempt to blow up a U.S. airliner on Christmas Day.
Speaking to students at George Washington University, Adm. Mullen, the nation's top military officer, was asked whether the U.S. was considering carrying out airstrikes on targets inside Yemen or deploying American ground forces there. He replied that the U.S. effort would be limited to helping fund and train the Yemeni security forces, some of whom are already mentored by small teams of elite American Special Operations forces."

US forges alliance with Saddam Hussein officers to fight al-Qaeda - Telegraph

US forges alliance with Saddam Hussein officers to fight al-Qaeda - Telegraph: "American counter-terrorism specialists and Saddam Hussein's former intelligence officers have forged an unlikely alliance in Yemen to tackle al-Qaeda."

Fear of a militarized Iran, as Guard gains 'primacy:' study

Fear of a militarized Iran, as Guard gains 'primacy:' study: "The Revolutionary Guard Corps has 'gained primacy' in Iran since the 2009 presidential election, fueling fears there that the country is becoming militarized, a Pentagon-sponsored study said Tuesday.
The study by the RAND Corporation also urged US policymakers to take 'great care' in their statements regarding Iran in order not to give the leadership a pretext to divert attention from domestic troubles, like the economy.
The disputed election was 'a watershed event' in the Islamic republic's history 'that has altered elite relationships and solidified the position of the Islamist right and the Revolutionary Guards in Iranian politics,' it said."

Outside View: Strategic incompetence

Outside View: Strategic incompetence: "During World War II Winston Churchill and his generals frequently complained about the inability of America to think strategically, relying instead on nearly unlimited resources to deliver the tools that ultimately won the war. Some two decades later as the Vietnam War raged, Harvard Professor Stanley Hoffmann wistfully observed that America believed that its adversaries either reasoned strategically as we did or were in desperate need of being educated to our level. When America overwhelmed the Taliban in Afghanistan and then overthrew Saddam Hussein's Iraq, the aim was to change the geostrategic landscape of the greater Middle East.
But we never seriously asked 'what next?' -- a signal mark of incompetence. We, the Afghans and Iraqis are still paying that price. Unfortunately, the landscape of that region has been changed -- and not to our liking."

More Guantanamo ex-inmates tied to militants: Pentagon

More Guantanamo ex-inmates tied to militants: Pentagon: "An increasing number of former detainees from the US prison in Guantanamo have forged links to militant groups after their release, the Pentagon said on Wednesday.
The precise number remained classified but was in keeping with a previous Defense Department report in April that said 14 percent of former inmates had engaged in or were suspected of having ties to militants, Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said."

The Pentagon’s Defense Review Trap / ISN

The Pentagon’s Defense Review Trap / ISN: "As Washington awaits the upcoming release of the Pentagon's Quadrennial Defense Review, some expect it to represent an about-face while others fear it will fail to bridge the gap between strategy and reality,"

US tactics ill-suited for Afghan troops - The Boston Globe

US tactics ill-suited for Afghan troops - The Boston Globe: "I visited a camp for training a new Afghan National Army, which then numbered some 10,000 strong. The goal was to mold Pashtuns, Hazaras, Uzbeks, Tajiks, and the rest into a truly national force, even though Tajiks of the Northern Alliance dominated the government then as now. There was worry that the Pashtuns, the largest ethnic group and the backbone of the Taliban, felt underrepresented in Kabul.
Talking to American officers involved in building a modern army out of the ashes of a long civil war, I remembered a scene in a camp along the Pakistani border nearly 20 years before. Then Americans were supporting the resistance to the Soviet occupation, but the training of the “holy warriors’’ was very different. I was shown how an innocent-looking piece of pipe could be smuggled into Soviet-occupied Kabul and be fitted to another innocent-looking pipe, smuggled in separately, and then filled with explosives."

KFOR drawing down to 10,000 troops

KFOR drawing down to 10,000 troops: "The Kosovo Force will transition from about 14,000 to 10,000 NATO forces by Jan. 31, due to improvements in security, said the commander of Multi-National Task Force-East.

Brig. Gen. Al Dohrmann told media in Kosovo last week that improvements in security have prompted the Kosovo Force to move its posture to a 'deterrent presence.'

'KFOR will rely more heavily on reserve forces that are able to quickly and decisively respond whenever and wherever necessary in support of local structures as a third responder,' Dohrmann said."

Lax US rules let Chinese evade Iran sanctions: study

Lax US rules let Chinese evade Iran sanctions: study: "Chinese companies blacklisted in the United States for selling military equipment to Iran have been skirting sanctions due to weak enforcement, researchers said Monday.
The Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control, a private group that opposes proliferation, found that US companies have taken imports from sanctioned Chinese firms without facing consequences or even knowing they had done so."

U.S. Forces-Iraq stands up in Baghdad

U.S. Forces-Iraq stands up in Baghdad: "A New Year's Day ceremony here marked another evolution of Operation Iraqi Freedom, as several major command groups merged into a single headquarters command, U.S. Forces-Iraq.

'This ceremony marks another significant transition here in Iraq,' said Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of U.S. Central Command. 'It represents another important milestone in the continued drawdown of American forces.'"

C.I.A. Takes On Bigger and Riskier Role on Front Lines - NYTimes.com

C.I.A. Takes On Bigger and Riskier Role on Front Lines - NYTimes.com: "The deaths of seven Central Intelligence Agency operatives at a remote base in the mountains of Afghanistan are a pointed example of the civilian spy agency’s transformation in recent years into a paramilitary organization at the vanguard of America’s far-flung wars."

FT.com / UK - Yemeni threat pushed up US agenda

FT.com / UK - Yemeni threat pushed up US agenda: "The risk posed by al-Qaeda in Yemen has long been of concern to western intelligence services. In 2000 Yemeni suicide bombers killed 17 people when they struck the USS Cole. The US waged a largely successful counter-terrorism campaign over the next three years, using unmanned drones to kill key operatives. But in the past three years AQAP has been thriving again in eastern Yemen, amid the ravages of its civil war.
Today western intelligence chiefs believe the risk posed by Yemeni jihadism has become especially serious."

China News: China Willing to Spend Big on Afghan Commerce | China Digital Times (CDT)

China News: China Willing to Spend Big on Afghan Commerce China Digital Times (CDT): "S. Frederick Starr, the chairman of the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute, an independent research organization in Washington, said that skeptics might wonder whether Washington and NATO had conducted “an unacknowledged preparatory phase for the Chinese economic penetration of Afghanistan.”
“We do the heavy lifting,” he said. “And they pick the fruit.”"

Jihadism and the Cold War -- latimes.com

Jihadism and the Cold War -- latimes.com: "The West won the Cold War; we can use some of the same tactics to defeat Islamic extremism."

US steps up anti-terror campaign in Yemen: report

US steps up anti-terror campaign in Yemen: report: "The United States has quietly opened a third, largely covert front against the Al-Qaeda terror network in Yemen, The New York Times reported late Sunday.
Citing an unnamed former top CIA official, the newspaper said that a year ago the Central Intelligence Agency sent many field operatives with counterterrorism experience to the country.
At the same time, some of the most secretive special operations commandos have begun training Yemeni security forces in counterterrorism tactics, the report said.
The Pentagon will be spending more than 70 million dollars over the next 18 months"

U.S. wants Pakistan to pursue Taliban-allied group -- latimes.com

U.S. wants Pakistan to pursue Taliban-allied group -- latimes.com: "As Pakistan forges ahead with its bid to uproot Taliban fighters from tribal areas along the border with Afghanistan, its troops are bypassing an enemy that the Obama administration desperately wants confronted.

Rather than expand on its gains in South Waziristan and drive into North Waziristan to tackle the Haqqani network -- a wing of the Taliban that views U.S. and NATO-led troops in Afghanistan as its principal target -- the Pakistani military is now focusing its attention on driving Taliban militants from their strongholds in the surrounding tribal regions of Kurram, Orakzai and Khyber."

U.S. Widens Terror War to Yemen, a Qaeda Bastion - NYTimes.com

U.S. Widens Terror War to Yemen, a Qaeda Bastion - NYTimes.com: "In the midst of two unfinished major wars, the United States has quietly opened a third, largely covert front against Al Qaeda in Yemen.

A year ago, the Central Intelligence Agency sent several of its top field operatives with counterterrorism experience to the country, according a former top agency official. At the same time, some of the most secretive Special Operations commandos have begun training Yemeni security forces in counterterrorism tactics, senior military officers said."

Wasp Returns Home Wrapping up Southern Partnership Station-Amphib 2009

Wasp Returns Home Wrapping up Southern Partnership Station-Amphib 2009: "The Wasp-DESRON 40 team joined forces with Joint Interagency Task Force (JIATF) - South, SCMAGTF, Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment (LEDET) 405 and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to conduct CIT operations in the Caribbean. The month-long interoperability mission working alongside Haitian and Dominican Republic civil and military agents resulted in a disrupted flow of drugs through the Caribbean and to the United States.

'The key to the success of this deployment has been that the Wasp, as a fusion center, has allowed us to bring to bear several assets that were able to work with Joint Interagency Task Force-South, conducting CIT operations in the south. The benefit is that we've been able to operate in different regions of the Caribbean,' said Laco."

US Congress uneasy over French warship sale to Russia

US Congress uneasy over French warship sale to Russia: "France's plans to sell a powerful warship to Russia, which has unsettled Georgia and other neighbors, has drawn fire in the US Congress where some warned against NATO arms sales to Moscow.
Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has introduced a non-binding resolution urging President Barack Obama to press Paris to cancel the transaction.
'France and other member states of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the European Union should decline to sell major weapons systems or offensive military equipment to the Russian Federation,' the measure says."

US Senate approves 2010 military budget

US Senate approves 2010 military budget: "The US Congress on Saturday sent US President Barack Obama a massive annual military spending bill that funds current operations in Afghanistan and pays for the troop withdrawal from Iraq.
In a rare weekend vote, the Senate approved the 636.3-billion-dollar package, which cleared the House of Representatives 395-34 on Wednesday, by an 88-10 margin.
Obama is expected to send Congress an emergency spending measure of at least 30 billion dollars early next year to pay for his recently announced decision to send 30,000 more US troops to Afghanistan."